When you want to attract people to a business event, networking may be your best seller. Business owners love to network because having new contacts can mean new business. When you’re organizing a networking event, it’s up to you to get people connecting with each other. The type of event you put on could have an effect on how people communicate. If you’re looking for ideas, here are seven of the best.
Technology
Using the latest advances in technology can give your event the wow factor. If you have five people and you know their business interests, it would be easy to connect them with the people they’re most likely to want to network with. If you have five hundred people, it’s humanly impossible to manually connect them to the right people. That’s where technology comes in. There are now systems that collect data from each attendee to match them with other attendees, similar to how a dating site would operate. You could also demonstrate products and services using virtual reality headsets or 360-degree videos. The technological world is your oyster.
Multiple Events
If your events continue to grow every year, you may reach a point where networking isn’t efficient anymore. If you have hundreds of people sign up for your event, why not break them into groups? Dividing your attendees into groups of 25-50 and hiring an event room with catering will allow your attendees to have more time to talk and create relationships that actually amount to something. During huge events, networking comes down to a hand shake and swapping business cards before meeting the next person. Most of those business cards will never be used. So, when you want your attendees to really make the most out of networking, think small.
Visual Stimulation
Walking into a plain function room is hardly going to get your attendees enthusiastic about the event. If you want people to attend your events year after year and enjoy themselves, you need to make them exciting. Find a company with models for hire, decorate the room with lots of color, give out free gift packages so no-one forgets you. It may be a professional environment, but people tend to mix better with one another when they feel relaxed. When people are having fun, they tend to let their guard down more.
Outdoor Activities
Just because it’s a networking event, it doesn’t mean everyone has to be in a suit and tie. If you have a smaller group of attendees, why not consider doing some outdoor activities? There’s nothing that gets people to know each other better than an activity that requires you to work as a team. You could try paintballing, clay pigeon shooting, falconry, mountain biking and many more. If you have more than twenty people, divide them into teams and do an assault course. The team with the slowest time has to do a forfeit. By the end of the event, you’ll have a group of people who have got to know each other and how their businesses operate, and you’ll have people raring to go again.
Private Events
You don’t need more than three people for a networking event – two people looking for something and one person to introduce them. Whether it’s a company executive looking for a graduate student or a start-up business looking for an investor, sometimes private is better. If you’re in a position to network two people, you won’t need much more than a restaurant with a private dining room and a few drinks. A private event gives people a chance to speak and connect without other distractions. If the event leads to something, both parties are in your debt.
Time Saving
Anyone involved in business doesn’t have time to waste, so whatever type of event you decide to organize, it’s important that the attendees meet the people that can benefit them. So, before your event takes place, take some time to go through the list of attendees and match people up. Give each attendee a list of several people they should meet during the event. That way, they aren’t going to waste too much time talking to others who may be of no benefit to them.
Socialize
As a networking event organizer, you’ll know more about each person attending than anyone else. It’s important that you navigate your way through the event, making introductions as you go. If you leave things up to chance, your attendees may not get the results they’re looking for. Be available at all times during the event so you can help people put faces to names.
